Decreasing incidence of membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis in Spanish children. Study Group of the Spanish Society of Nephrology.

Thirteen paediatric nephrology units contributed to a retrospective review of 1447 kidney biopsies which were performed on children under 15 years of age from 1972 to 1986 and were examined by immunofluorescence and light microscopy. The histological studies were grouped into three 5-year periods: (1) 1972-1976 (248 biopsies), (2) 1977-1981 (607 biopsies), and (3) 1982-1986 (592 biopsies). The incidence of membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (MPGN) was significantly lower during periods 2 (6.6%) and 3 (5.4%) than in period 1 (10.9%, P less than 0.05 and less than 0.01 respectively). The reasons for the significant decrease in the incidence of MPGN in Spanish children cannot be determined, but the observation agrees with those from French, Italian and Spanish studies involving adult patients.